Day at the Pool
by StoryCurrentlyUntitled
Summary: Syaoran spends a day at the pool with Sakura and is having an incredibly rough time of it! He confesses in the end, but how does Sakura take it? two-shot. S
1. Chapter 1

Falling exhaustedly back onto his bed, a certain amber-eyed, brown haired ten-year-old boy sighs in deep frustration. Lately, thoughts of another nameless person had been flooding his head, pushing away all logical and rational thoughts, such as the fact that they had always been rivals, or the fact that they were barely getting to know one another. How her honey colored hair curved around her face, how just hearing her voice made him smile, how everything she did had it's own completely irritating and quirky way of being cute is frightening and at the same time, strangely fascinating. There had never been another born able to make him feel this way. And though he is intrigued with it and fascinated by the affect she ahs on him, he is still afraid of the new feeling, not fully understanding why exactly he carries such feelings for this girl.

Sakura Kinomoto has the biggest mouth in the universe and she _likes_ to use it. She always has something to say about everything and while being initially annoying, if you listen long enough you will come to find her overzealous personality charming. Her green eyes are so expressive and manage to be the one place he can find happiness, even when things are at their very worst, even when it feels like the job of finding and collecting all of the magical Clow Cards is way too much. Her warmth is contagious and radiates from her like light off the sun. There's not a thing in the world you can do to keep yourself from feeling that kindness.

_I've become completely insane…_Syaoran rubs his hand back and forth over his sweat-covered forehead, breathing deeply in the intense fall heat. For some strange reason, this month has been an uncommonly warm month this year, with its temperatures reaching into the nineties the last few days. But he knows it's not the heat that's doing this to him. In fact he's not really sure what it is that's causing him to behave this way. _I'm just all but gone…like I'm standing at the edge of a huge canyon and one shove will send me over the edge. I'm nearly completely batty._

The phone rings. Since he doesn't generally look at the caller ID before picking up, he just clicks 'send', and then consequently blushes when he hears it's her on the other end of the line. "Hello, Li-kun?" Too shocked to respond to her for all of a few seconds, he had elicited her curiosity by remaining silent.

"Um…" She makes an attempt at being polite. "Li-kun, are you there? Did I accidentally dial the wrong number?" He hears her begin to panic on the other end of the phone line, thinking amusedly to himself how trademark-Sakura this moment is. But he knows he must answer when he hears her begin to apologize.

"I'm sorry for calling a stranger. I'll hang up right away and I'll try again!"

His heart catches in his throat for a moment and he springs into a sitting position, shaking his head as if that will accomplish something. "No!" He shouts, realizing only after how stupid he sounds in doing so. "I…I mean, you don't have to do that," His face fills with such a bright red and he looks down at his covers. "It's me. You don't have a wrong number."

He hears a relived little giggle and a confirmation sound. "Right…well I apologize for freaking out on you like that…but when you didn't answer right away I just assumed…"

He sighs, nodding to himself in a scolding way. He knows how easily she panics. "Yeah…I was just a little surprised to hear from you," Now thinking that he might have given something away and turning an even darker red, he continues. "But…that wasn't why…I mean…I was…preoccupied at the moment I picked up…"

She laughs again. He smiles, feeling relief flood into him knowing that she hadn't thought he was trying to say something weird.

"Well that's all right Li-kun. It's just good to know it was you and not some stranger."

Now feeling completely stupid and wanting to wrap this up, he urges her to get to the point. "What did you need?"

"Oh," She responds. "Yeah…well, see it's kinda spur of the moment but…I was wondering if you might want to go swimming with me today?"

His heart begins to beat a little faster, something about the thought of being alone with her all day in swimming apparel being slightly flustering. "Um…how come?" Her voice squeaks a bit when she speaks this time.

"It's all right if you can't or don't want to, I just thought you would like to go, since you're a really good swimmer and you seem to like it a lot."

The idea of her complimenting him makes him happy. The thought that she had called him up and wanted to go do something that he likes only means she had been thinking about him too. It's refreshing to know that he's not the only one who has sporadic, spontaneous thoughts about her. He gets to his feet, going and opening a drawer yanking out his swimming trunks and some money and then shoving them into a bag.

His caretaker had stepped out so Syaoran decides upon simply leaving a note saying where he went, for how long he plans to be gone and when he should be expecting him back. Just for extra caution, Syaoran quickly scribbles his cell phone number on the paper and places a magnet over it on the fridge.

"Don't worry, I'm coming. So I'll meet you where in how much time?" He rushes to the front door and yanks it open, rushing out just in time to collide with Sakura, knocking her to the ground.

He is still trying to figure out his situation while she begins to playfully giggle at him. "It's good to see you too Li-kun!"

His face goes red when his eyes meet with the big, green orbs. He finds himself jumping away so fast that he trips and falls back into the door, hitting his head roughly. He then also falls to the ground, rubbing his sore head and looking over at Sakura, who is on her feet without fail now, looking at him, concerned. He knows the very thing she is going to say next. It always follows one of these moments where he has tripped or fallen or stupidly injured himself in some other way while he was bust paying attention to Sakura.

"Are you all right, Li-kun?"

He nods, standing. "Yeah. Let's just get going."

The walk over is only just bearable and carried out in a blissfully unaware Sakura silence. She doesn't seem to know what this lack of conversation is doing to him. Poor Syaoran has always been one to get worked up over being with the one he likes. Suddenly he feels her hand grasp his and something in the pit of his stomach goes strangely cold and scalding at the same moment. Her little fingers lace through his. His eyes timidly dart to hers and consequently turn away again when he sees her smiling in a slightly apprehensive manner up at him.

Trying to cope with the feeling of her hand in his while at the same time not wanting to give away how much this affects him, he lowers his head shyly and begins to speak. "W-what?"

"Oh," Regrettably, her hand leaves his and he knows that he won't be able to work up the courage to reach over and take it back into his grasp, no matter how much he'll kick himself for making her feel like she's done something wrong. "Well you were so quiet that I got worried about you. Are you okay?"

He looks over at her and smiles, trying to be comforting. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

When they look away from one another, they realize they are standing at the door to the indoor pool and Syaoran clears his throat meaningfully. "Um…we're here…"

She glances at the door and then for some reason Syaoran can't quite understand, places her hand nervously on the back of her head. "Oh, I guess we are here. Well, lets go in then."

Sakura steps out of the changing room and despite himself, Syaoran finds that he can't help looking at the girl. It's a two-piece swimming suit, sport cut top and bottom and is, true to Sakura's nature, pink and white. She walks over to him, clasping her hands behind her back cutely as he swallows and tries to keep himself from reacting just yet.

She smiles, her head tilting a little to the side. "How does it look Li-kun?"

His throat closes up for a moment, but he does manage to nod. "It looks…good."

Her blush deepens, making his heart speed up a bit. "Really? Thank you!"

His mouth falls a bit and he finally just turns away. "Let's just go swim."

She heads off to the deep end, Syaoran following less excitedly behind her. He watches as she dives in, smiling as she resurfaces, She waves to him. "Come on! The water's great!"

Syaoran walks over to her when she makes her way to his side of the pool and leans down to her, giving her a huge smile. She cups her hands under the water, bringing them up and splashing it in his face, up his nose and drenching his hair. He looks surprised for all of a moment before standing and then jumps over her in the pool, coming back up and pushing his brown mop out of his face.

She stares at him for a moment, making the boy raise an eyebrow before he makes his way over to her, looking mischievous. Sakura is her usual curious self, watching him happily for a moment until he reaches out, dunking her under.

When she comes back up she just looks confused. Syaoran has never been one to play around, so the rare moments when he is being playful are strange to her. He gives her a lop-sided grin, instigating a huge water fight. He laughs as he splashes her and she pushes him away, turning and trying to swim away, knowing full well how much faster than her he is. He catches her, turning her in his arms to face him. She is somehow moving closer and his arms are somehow tightening around her. His mouth falls open as she comes closer and closer.

In one moment where neither of them are thinking clearly, he leans in and places his lips over hers. When he pulls back a moment later and they both realize what he has just done, they both just panic, Syaoran wanting to escape in any way he can and Sakura just confused as hell.

"Li-kun!" Her face goes red, her arms waving frantically in the air. "You…you just…why did you just…um…" She can't finish, pausing here and screeching aloud.

"I-I wasn't…I mean I didn't think…um, well…"

She cuts him off here, saying something surprisingly random. "You know what, why don't we go and get some ice cream sodas?"

His brow arches in confusion, his mouth set in a surprised "huh." After he had just kissed her and she had completely freaked and he had completely panicked now she wanted to know if he wanted ice cream?

They just shrug and head to the concession stand, getting the sodas and taking a seat at the nearest table. She looks up at him, her face still a deep shade of red. "So…um, why did you kiss me?"

His face reddens and his grip tightens a bit on the Styrofoam cup as he shakily lifts it from the table to take a drink before answering. But, as his luck would have it, his grip slips and it goes all over his lap instead of in his mouth and he jumps to his feet, dropping the rest of the drink all over the floor. "Jeez!" He yells, extremely cold and more than uncomfortable. Sakura is on her feet as well now, looking around desperately for some way to help him.

She spots some showers close to them and pushes him inside of one, not knowing how to get the water to go hot or cold. She simply pulls on the one lever and he cries out as scalding hot water stings all over his body. Jumping, Sakura doesn't know what else to go and just lets go of the lever as he continues to cry out, backing away and bringing a hand up to her mouth.

"I'm sorry Li-kun!"

He turns to her, trying to back out from under the water in the small cubical. "Turn it off!" He jumps from one foot to the other frantically as the water burns. "Turn it off!"

She makes a jump for it, smacking the lever as she tumbles into Syaoran, who is looking more than a little annoyed. The full weight of her body presses into his and that is enough to make however annoyed he may be disappear all together. His arms support her, keeping her from falling any further. Because she is who she is, she can fall even when she's all ready on the ground.

Her eyes meet with his, startled. "I'm _so_ sorry Li-kun!" She picks herself up to her hands and knees over him, smiling nervously.

He shakes his head, blushing deeply. "It's fine."

They both scramble to their feet, embarrassed and rubbing sore spots that will soon enough turn to bruises. He holds an icepack softly against the back of his head when they sit at the table again and she looks at him, feeling bad. "I think this is the most times I've ever seen you hit your head, Li-kun."

He nods. "I think it is too."

She clears her throat.

He glances at her. "What?"

Her eyes dart off to the left, her face flushing a bit. "Do you think if I ask again you'll be injured in some other way?"

His one eyebrow arches a bit, confused. "Ask what?"

Sakura nervously bites down on her lip. "Why did you kiss me?"

His face looses all color for a moment before turning beat red and he quickly looks at the floor. She lowers her gaze to try and see what he might be thinking about right now.

"Isn't it obvious?" He mumbles, only just loud enough for her to hear him.

She tilts her head to one side a bit, still utterly confused. "What are you talking about, Li-kun?"

His gaze snaps to hers, the blush on his face all but gone and his mouth set in a frown. "Sakura, I like you."

Her eyes widen more, but only for a few seconds until they soften once more and she gives him a nod. "Me too, Li-kun. You're a very good friend. But that still doesn't explain the kiss."

His mouth falls open a bit, shocked that she could have really misunderstood something so blatant as that. "No," His eyes never break contact. "I didn't mean it like that. I mean I..." Her eyes widen again, this time more shocked than the last. "I mean...I really like you."

Her mouth about hits the floor as her whole face goes completely red. He looks at her for only another second before lowering his gaze to the floor agian. He's sorry he had to do it, but she had wanted to know and so, looking at her right now, he couldn't have lied to her, had he even wanted to.

"Oh," Ages and ages have passed since the last time anything was said. Syaoran had lost all confidence. "I..." She's hesitant, but since he had said it right to her, she owed him the same. "I like you too. Or, at least, I think I do..."

His heart about stops as he looks up at her once more. "What are you saying?" He asks, not really understanding how someone could be unsure of such a thing.

She reaches out and places her hand over his, giving a loving smile. "I need some time to think it over..." She states. "Is...that okay?"

Syaoran looks at her for another moment and then nods. "That's fine. Whatever you need to do."

She grins. "But I have to ask a favor." She tells him and he nods again.

"What is that?"

"Could I call you Syaoran-kun, you know, instead of Li-kun?"

For a moment it is a little strange for him to hear this from her. But that doesn't matter. "Sure."

She smiles wider. "Will you call me Sakura as well?"

Looking down and blushing madly, Syaoran nods at her once more. "I will...Sakura."

**Ridiculously out of character toward the end but I hope it's at least ok. Enjoy everyone, since it's been revised as to avoid confusion as to who is speaking.**

Well, that's the end of the first chapter, however, to anyone reading this story I would like to introduce two new stories of mine for Shugo Chara! Please review them if you do read:)

_**"Lonely No More"**_ - This is a story of Amu and Ikuto from "Shugo Chara!" over 14 years into the future from where the story leaves off. (Also, in this story I figure them to be a little closer to the same age. If she's 24 in the story, that puts him at 29. Just was the feeling I got while writing it.) Ikuto is finally back after traveling the world in search of his father and Amu is in college now. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, she finds Ikuto laying beside her and they get to talking. He finds out that she's been quite lonely after all of her friends from school began to move on and she learns about what happened on his long search for his father. It's hurt/comfort/romance and strictly AMUTO. Anyone who wants to see a more mature Amu teasing Ikuto a little will like this. It's still in progress, so read, enjoy and always, always, ALWAYS _**REVIEW!**_

_**"Ikuto Tsukiyomi's 100 Good Deeds"**_ - This story is a crossover with a show from the 90's, "100 Good Deeds for Eddie Mcdowd." Basically- like in the aforementioned show -Ikuto likes to pick on girls and is turned into a cat who must perform one hundred acts of kindness toward any girl of his choice to return to being human. When he is found on the street, he is taken to a pet shop and gives up all hope of ever being human again since he's been forced to live as a cat for several months. After a chance encounter, he ends up living with Amu Hinamori, a girl from his school that he's interested in and chaos ensues! Now Ikuto has to not only deal with how to perform his 100 good deeds and return to being human, but he must also face his affection for Amu. Plenty of sweet moments and hilarious incidents make this story a humor/romance.


	2. Chapter 2

It has now been just over two weeks since the adventure at the pool and Sakura has hardly spoken two words to Syaoran. He is becoming increasingly worried that she has decided she can no longer be his friend or that she doesn't feel the same way in return. Had he imagined the smile on her face when she had requested they call one another by first name? Had he imagined her thumb gently rubbing the back over his hand during this conversation? Was it all just some illusion?

Of course, that was the most irrational thought ever. It had all really happened. There was definitely no question about that. He had really confessed and she had really told him to wait for her. So now, here he was, two weeks later, lying in his bed room in a white tank and cargo shorts. The heat is now worse than ever and he's guessing that's probably what he can blame all of his previous irrational thoughts on.

He sighs deeply, wondering when Sakura will ever call or even look at him again. She's certainly been doing her best to avoid him as of yet. But, sooner or later he knows she will answer. He just is hoping, with much desperation that it is the answer he is looking for. It would be bad if she didn't also feel that way about him, especially after he had told her how he felt and kissed her in one outing, both spontaneous and not thought through completely before they had been carried out.

Suddenly, the cell phone in his pocket begins to ring and he scrambles to get it out, pulling it roughly out of his pocket only to drop it on the floor. He rolls his eyes and turns over onto his stomach, reaching down as it begins to ring again. It should be broken by now, with the way he treats it. Hitting the send button, he quickly realizes that it is Sakura on the other end and sits bolt upright.

"Hello?" Her voice comes, sounding rather timid.

He swallows harshly and tries to gather his voice into what will sound somewhat like a normal tone. "Hey...Sakura..." It's a struggle to get out her name, only because he isn't sure if she's going to react well judging by the sound of her voice.

"Would you come and answer your door please, Syaoran-kun?" Whew, so calling her by her name was not a mistake after all. He stands now, going over to the door of his room and placing his hand on the knob.

"You're at my house?" He hears a shuffle.

"Yes, please hurry."

With those words, Syaoran needs no further encouragement and is soon running down the stairs, worrying his head off, thinking off all the possible things that could happen to her before he would get there. His pace increases a bit and as he passes by the kitchen he looks in, wondering if maybe he should prepare something to eat or if she had all ready eaten. Needless to say that because he had been paying attention to something other than where he was going, he runs into the door. Sakura jumps when she hears the crashing of something against the door. He carefully picks himself up off the floor, and brushes imaginary dirt off himself as he opens the door and tries not to look as if he's in a great deal of pain.

Sakura's eyes widen a bit as he looks down at her, his eyes looking as if he's trying very hard to remain focused. She arches an eyebrow. "Are you okay, Syaoran-kun?"

He nods only once, trying purposefully to keep all head motion to a minimum right now. "Yeah," She tilts her head, looking as if she isn't buying it. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Shaking her head now, Sakura points at his face and gives her best sympathy smile. "Because silly, you're bleeding."

His eyes widening as things begin to readjust around him again, Syaoran reaches up and touches his nose to find that there is indeed blood there. Just great, so much for playing it off as if nothing had happened.

She smiles and looks past him. "I guess that you were in a hurry and ran into the door. Am I right?" He nods, figuring that it's useless now to tell her that there's nothing wrong.

"Well then, may I come in?"

He opens the door and moves back out of her way, holding his one hand out graciously to his side to show her in. She grins at him in passing and he gives her a shy smile in return. He shows her to the living room, after a short detour to the bathroom to patch up his still bleeding nose, where they both sit and are quiet for a few minutes.

Syaoran, surprising himself even, is the first to say something. "Would you like something to eat? To drink?"

Sakura nods. "Yes, if it's not a burden, please do."

He makes a move to get up but when she grabs his sleeve, he is pulled back down to sit beside her. They look at each other curiously, nervously, blushingly, trying to figure out what needs to be said while still trying hard not to freak out the other person. Sakura is the first to find her lost courage.

"Syaoran-kun, the snacks can wait for a bit," When she turns down food, you know she means business. It's gotta be serious then.

"Okay..." He trails off, feeling his arms tense as she pulls her hand off his sleeve.

"I came to talk to you about the other day at the pool."

Syaoran nods his head at the girl but doesn't try to move toward her. "I know."

Her face grows a little rosy. "I still wanted to say that I'm sorry for the ice cream and the water that I burned you with and for knocking you down."

He just waves this one off. "I like to be knocked down, it's fun. Oh and the whole getting burned thing? Yeah, well, thanks to you, now it doesn't seem so warm." Sakura can't help a grin at his spin on the events of that day. It had been a very fun train wreck, for a train wreck.

"But I did have a really good time that day."

His eyebrows raise a bit in agreement to this. Despite everything, it had been a good day. A _very_ good day. But also, a very confusing day. "I also wanted to talk to you about...about...the kiss you gave me..."

He lowers his head and nods, his face now measuring a tomato. "I know that too," His throat, for some reason, is parched. He could only manage a weak, shaky reply to her statement.

"It was a little...out of the blue," After some silence she comments, tilting her head forward a little. He tries his best to look at her, though his face is all red.

"Y-yeah. I guess it was..."

She shrugs. Her feet swing back and forth, not reaching the ground in her reclined position. Her hands clasp together in her lap. "It was my very first kiss."

His head lowers a bit at this news. Now what? If she hadn't wanted him to kiss her, then that would be taking a first kiss that didn't really belong to him. And, though the thought pains him, if it had been intended for someone else, then he knows she'll be hurt.

"Was it okay?" Random much? Where had that come from? He isn't supposed to be asking her stuff like that right now!

It's her place to ask the questions! Her brow wrinkles up a bit as a goofy grin takes up it's usual place on her mouth. "I don't know what an 'okay' kiss would be Syaoran-kun! It was my very first!" Mentally he chastises himself. Of course, how would Sakura know the answer to such a thing anyway? Neither of them had ever kissed anyone before.

His head lowers. His fingers tap nervously against the couch. A smile crosses her face when he sneaks a peak up at her.

"But...I know that it wasn't bad." He moves back into place beside her, his eyes watching her without wavering, hanging on her every word. "I know because...because if I thought Syaoran-kun had done something mean, that I'd be upset or sad. But I'm not either of those things. I'm not sad, or upset."

Well, that at least, is a relief. Now he can worry about one less thing. Scratch "big feud" off the list of possible outcomes of that episode. _But then, what is going on in her head right now?_ Well, it would come, if he had the patience for it. She bites her lip, he notices while watching her face for reactions. Her fingers fidget with the fabric of the couch.

"For the past few weeks I've been thinking it over again and again. Thinking about how I've felt about Yukito all this time, and how I've felt about you since we've come to get along better." Her words leave him questioning everything again. If she could give him an answer all ready, that'd be freaking great. At the same time, he knows this is hard for her and that it's all new to her so he can not rush her. He has to let her decide on her own. "And I want you to answer something for me." Nodding when she gives him a cue, Syaoran's eyes trail up and down her face. He moves in closer, both afraid of crowding her and anxious to hear her thoughts.

She shies off some, leaning away nervously and he knows that he has crossed the line by moving in. Sliding back, he mutters a quick, "Sorry,"

"Don't be," She barks, startling Syaoran. "I'm just working my way up to it."

_Yes and you sure are taking your time. It's not like I'm putting you on a schedule here but do you think you could at least give me something to go on so I won't go nuts sitting here?_ Watching her, wanting her answer, wanting to _know_ simply is just_ terrible_. Why can't she just say how she feels? Here is is, just about going out of his mind thinking of all the possible outcomes and she's just sitting there- less than a foot away on his couch- smiling like an idiot and not saying _anything_. How would anyone react?

"Syaoran-kun?" She questions. His frazzled amber eyes meet with her darty green ones.

"Yeah?"

"Will you tell me what you feel? What you see?"

His brow furrows in confusion. What he feels and sees? What does that have anything to do with all of this? "Sakura, I don't understand."

Her mouth set in an "oh," she tries her hand at elaborating. "I mean...tell me exactly what you feel for me. What do you see...when you look at me? Be completely honest."

These cannot be questions that she had come up with on her own. It just simply was not in her personality to think of such things and then ask them in that forward manner without then later feeling like she was prying and apologizing for it. She must have been talking with Tomoyo again. Tomoyo knows everything about Sakura and she knows exactly what to tell her to do in any situation because she is always carefully observing everything that happens to her friend. Plus, it sounds exactly like something that Tomoyo would say. She is the type to pry, the type to ask questions, knowing the difference between prying and simply needing an answer.

But, if that's what she had meant to say when she had originally asked then he'd be more than happy to give her an answer. His hand absently slides over hers. "Sakura, there's so many things that I could say. I don't even know where to start,"

She shrugs. "Pick one thing."

His hand grips hers tightly. "One thing?"

Sakura nods her head. "Any one thing that you can think of and just call it out."

He knows there are close to a billion answers to that question, but he figures he should start with the most obvious. "You make me happy."

He notices when she begins to look confused and addresses it. "What?"

Her eyes lock onto his. "I make you happy?"

His head lowers only once before his gaze returns to hers. "_You_ make me happy. Every day."

Even though he had expected her to have come to some sort of conclusion, she only looks further confused. "I don't understand. You come here to collect the cards and hate me. You seem to like Yukito and we become rivals. I collect all the cards first and you want to leave and go back to China. You always called me names and yelled at me, you always seem flustered when you were near me and then, two weeks ago you suddenly kissed me and now I make you happy too?"

His head lowers again, not having expected her to say something like that. It must have come from Tomoyo, a backup in case the subject would come up. He hadn't had anyone to talk to about this situation, he only had those two weeks to let it drive him crazy. All he could do for all that time was think about all the possible outcomes and how he would feel if she said yes and how he would feel if she said no and how all of it would affect them as friends.

He sighs heavily and then lifts his head again, his eyes baring down on hers. Normally he'd be extremely nervous talking about his feelings. And that holds true at this moment as well. But Sakura is asking. Sakura wants to know and if this will bring about a resolution then he'll have to suck it up and get through it. "Yeah, you do. After all the fights, after all the trials, despite everything...at the end of the day you just...make me happy." He is silent for a moment, Sakura watching, her eyes full of wonder. His throat goes dry under her gaze, momentarily loosing his new found confidence.

He clears his throat and swallows loudly, attempting to continue. "If I was mean in the beginning it was because I was mad that you had a jump on me as far as collecting the cards. Yukito was never the one I liked. I was just attracted to his powers. Somewhere in the back of my mind it was you, maybe not from the beginning but certainly very close to it. I truly believed that I would be of no more use since I was not the official Card Captor, that's why I wanted to leave. But after everything that we went through, my calling you names in the end and being flustered was only because I care about you and I didn't want to see anything happen to you."

They stare at one another. Wanting to break the tension he feels, Syaoran is the first to say anything. "So...the answer to 'I make you happy?' is yes. You do. You always have. After all of the crap that we've gone through and all of our fights, you just make me happy."

Her mouth curves up into a pleased grin. No one has ever talked to her like this before. And for Syaoran to be the one speaking like this is just so beyond anything she'd ever imagined coming from him. "And when you look at me, you see what?"

He grins. "I see a girl that I really like. I see a strong-willed person who aims to please. I see you Sakura and that's all I need to see." It is bold, he believes, coming from him. He's never been a person who's very good at sharing feelings or any of that kind of thing. This is all new to him. However, judging by the way Sakura hasn't been able to take her eyes off him and the fact that she has been smiling a little bit more since the "you make me happy" spiel, he has to believe that he is doing good for a beginner.

"Now it's your turn," He finally comments, taking her aback.

"Huh?"

He smiles and gently takes her hand. "Tell me, what do you feel? When you look at me, what do you see? It's your turn."

Liking the way that he is headed with this she smiles, her cheeks suddenly rosy. "I feel like I can talk to you about anything. You're one of the few people who know about my cards and the world they involve me in. You're always there to help me when I'm in a bind and I'm very grateful to you for that."

His face is nothing but a huge, goofy grin at this point, his eyes sparkling.

"When I look at you I see a very together person. A fighter who never stops trying, never gives up. I see a person who would do their best for anyone, even for their enemies. I admire you more than anyone." He nods at this, trying to encourage her to continue.

She takes a moment or so, but eventually does resume, a small, bashful smile in place on her lips. "In the end...you make me happy too..."

His hand brushes back against the side of her face. "And when I had thought about that, sometime yesterday afternoon, I realized something," He gives her a quick, crooked smile, letting it hang on lips for only a moment before it disappears again. He just wants her to finish.

"I couldn't think all of those things about you- feel all of those things- and not have feelings for you. It's pretty much impossible."

He smiles slyly. "So you're saying that you..."

She taps his shoulder playfully. "Like you! I like you! There, Ego, I said it."

Chuckling, he leans down and gives her a light kiss on the cheek. "I'm glad. I've been going crazy these last few weeks, just driving myself nuts thinking of everything that could have happened."

"Well don't drive yourself nuts anymore, Syaoran-kun," She leans on his shoulder. "That's not really a good thing, to be nuts."

He gives a laugh, shyly placing a hand on her shoulder. "I guess it's not. But hey, you drive everyone insane!" Jumping back and swinging her arms frantically, Sakura starts into a frenzy, telling him how she does not. Naturally, all he can do is try to assure her that he was kidding and smile at her childish antics.

Outside the door stands Tomoyo with her camcorder, laughing in her own diabolical way and recording all of the events unfolding. How she got in, no one will ever know. _I knew something would come of telling her to call and ask him to go swimming!_


End file.
